


More Than Anything

by JayceCarter



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Not Canon Compliant, Smut, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 17:34:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15148289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayceCarter/pseuds/JayceCarter
Summary: The night before the final battle, Erend visits Aloy. They don't know what will happen, but neither wants to leave things unsaid.





	More Than Anything

**Author's Note:**

> So, as a fan of Mass Effect, I love the romance scenes just before the big final battles. This was my putting one in because I wish it had been there in Horizon Zero Dawn.

 

Sleep evaded Aloy. Each time she closed her eyes, red surrounded her. She pictured Hades’ tendrils reaching for her, seeking her out even in Olin’s old place, even there behind so many soldiers and solid walls.

It would all change tomorrow. One way or another, no matter how it ended up, it would all change.

Either they would defeat Hades and be on the way to restoring Gaia, or Hades would win, and they would be dead.

No matter what, it would change.

A creak from the stairs had Aloy reaching for her bow.

“So, guess I’m not the only one who can’t sleep.”

“If you sneak into people’s rooms, you should expect to get shot.” Aloy pulled her hand back as Erend walked into the room.

“You wouldn’t shoot me. You’d feel too guilty afterward.”

Aloy twisted, her feet resting on the floor, the mats scraping along her bare feet. “You’re not drunk.”

He flinched, then dragged his hand through his hair. “Guess I earned that. No, I’m not drunk. Just thought maybe you were having the same issue.” He hiked a thumb over his shoulder toward the stairs. “I can go if you want.”

Aloy considered it, considered going back to her own personal anxiety. Back to the silence and the worries, to the people who trusted her, the ones who had come willing to die just by her name alone. Their bodies would be on her conscious if they fell tomorrow.

“Some company would be nice.”

Erend offered her that crooked smile, the one that made him seem so much younger. “You know, Ersa used to sit by the fire before a big battle. I always went to find her, sat with her. Neither of us could sleep, so we’d sit up. Not to plan, just to talk. I think maybe we both knew it might be the last time, that there might not be another night, so we better say everything we were thinking.”

Aloy folded her legs in front of her, the bed dipping as Erend sat beside her. “The night before I went to the Proving, before I took down my first sawtooth, Rost sat by a fire with me. He planned to leave after the Proving since he knew I wouldn’t leave him alone.”

“Why’d he have to leave?”

“The Nora are ruled by superstition and rules. They live their lives thinking that if they follow the right rules, they’ll gain favor from the Goddess. Worse than that, Rost had always wanted family, always wanted to be part of the tribe that didn’t want him. So, he refused to put me at risk of losing that and planned to leave where I couldn’t follow. The tribe, the Nora, they might have been forced to take me in, but they were never going to be my family. He was my family.”

Erend sighed, then leaned over to bump his shoulder against hers. “I’ve never understood you Nora, obsessed with sacred lands and rules. Anyone who tossed you out for some tradition didn't deserve you in the first place.”

“Like you didn’t want to toss me out the first time we met.”

“I was too busy trying to impress you to even think about tossing you anywhere.”

Aloy tilted her head as she twisted to look at Erend. “Impress me? Why?”

“You were a cute young girl, all locked away in your sacred lands. Who could blame me for having had a few fantasies about being the strong warrior from afar who wins your affection.” He didn’t look straight at her, shifting where he sat, his foot tapping against the floor. “Stupid, huh?”

Aloy reached out and set her hand on his thigh. “I might have been impressed.”

“Might have been?”

“Well, if I’d known you were flirting, yes.”

He released a hard laugh. “Ouch, Aloy. Way to wound a man’s pride. You didn’t even know I was flirting?”

“It had all been too overwhelming, too new. It was the first time almost anyone had spoken to me in my life, the first time being around people. Not to mention, no one had ever flirted with me before.”

Erend lifted a hand, movement slow. He pushed a braid that had fallen forward behind her ear. “No one? I find that hard to believe.”

It was true. Since then, in her travels, she’d  come to understand flirting more. It hadn’t meant anything to her, the silly quips by strangers who saw something in her she didn’t understand. She’d never returned the feelings, never cared.

Not at first, at least. Erend’s first attempt, even his later attempt hadn’t mattered. She’d even feared something in her was as broken as the Nora said, something dead. Why didn’t she react? Why didn’t she lust the way others her age did?

With time, however, as she’d spent more time with him, something had changed. He'd changed. Or, perhaps, she had.

The more she got to know him, the more this stirring and want had started in her, this desire she hadn’t felt before, hadn't felt with anyone else. It was as if he’d changed into something attractive, something no one else had been to her. 

“You were my first,” she said, lips pulled into a grin. “I’ve had a bit more experience since then, so I can at least spot it now. I promise to never miss your flirting again.”

His eyebrow lifted. “Are you telling me I might have a shot if I try it again?”

“Well, you won’t have a shot if you don’t.”

“Is that how you do things? Is that how Aloy of the Nora has gotten here? By taking all the risks?” Erend kept his hand on her cheek, the warmth of his palm soaking into her skin.

“I had a choice as a kid. I could live my life as an outcast, never knowing the truth about where I came from, accepting that I never could do anything else, or I could take a risk. When I was in the proving, I got behind, and the only way I’d win was to take this falling down path. The Brave there said it was better to be last than dead, but it wasn’t, so I took the risk.”

“So the risk is always worth it?”

“Not always, but I’d rather regret something I did than something I was too afraid to do.”

Erend chuckled, his hand sliding to the nape of her neck. “Well, I might risk you shooting me, but I guess I’ll take your advice.” He pulled her forward into a kiss.

She returned the kiss, every press of his lips to hers. His breath lacked the bite of alcohol it often carried, and when his tongue traced her lips, she opened for him.

Aloy turned further, her leg swinging over him so she straddled his lap, her hands sliding to his broad shoulders. She stroked over the muscles there, fingers following the rise of his shoulders, the dip behind his shoulder blades, the heft his body had that hers lacked.

His hands went to her hips, fingers dipping below the hem of her top, words slipping between the kisses. “We don’t have to rush this, Aloy.”

“I’m not a fool. We might not live through tomorrow, and I don’t want to have missed this.” She grasped her top and pulled it over her head, back straightening as she dropped it on the floor.

Erend groaned, a deep sound that warmed her and made her want more of him. She wanted to kiss across his chest as he rumbled out that sound, to feel it vibrate against her lips.

Aloy offered one more kiss before sliding from his lap, their lips pulling away in a reluctant parting. She undid the laces of her pants then shimmied them off.

Erend’s eyes widened, mouth dropping open as his gaze roamed over the newly exposed flesh.

Aloy had felt a great many things, mostly grateful for the strength and agility of her body. It had never been sultry, never desirable, never anything but practical. However, when he looked at her like that, he made her feel desirable.

Erend shook his head hard as if waking himself up. He kicked off his boots before standing, then worked his own shirt off. The expanse of skin had Aloy’s hands itching to touch, to feel the strength. He didn’t hesitate before peeling his pants off so he stood bare before her. His hips didn’t narrow, lacking the same body Avad, Nil, or even Varl had. No, Erend was all nothing like them. They were built for speed and Erend for nothing but force. Dark, coarse hair ran down his chest, over his stomach, to a patch at his groin.

Her eyes caught there, at his cock. Having grown up without others, she’d never seen an unclothed man. She understood the mechanics of sex since Rost had told her in case some boy thought her an easy target as an outcast. Still, knowing the basic mechanics and seeing was different.

When she’d pictured seeing a boy naked in the past, it hadn’t inspired anything in her. Now? Now, seeing him bare to her, seeing him wanting her, it stirred something in her that was almost frightening.

“We don’t have to, you know.” Erend reached across the short space between them, brushing her hair over her shoulder so it didn’t obscure his view. “I don’t expect anything.”

Aloy lifted her gaze to his face, to his stupid facial hair, to his crooked smile, to the uncertainty he always showed with her. She took the final step toward him before wrapping her arms around his neck and hopping her legs up around his waist.

His hands came to her ass, grabbing her to hold her against him. “You know, I always did admire your climbing skill.” He twisted around, then lowered her onto the bed while moving above her.

His weight crushed her, forcing Aloy to push at his shoulders.

He huffed and braced himself on his arm, giving her room to breathe. “So, you’re-”

“-If you ask me if I’m sure again, I’m going to kick you.”

“Well, you have access to my more sensitive parts at the moment, so I think I’ll stop asking.” He lowered his free arm and set that hand on her waist. “I just can’t quite believe you’d ever be here with me, I guess. I keep thinking it’s just the stress of tomorrow, that you’re going to realize it’s a big mistake and kick me out.”

Aloy stared up at the honesty of his face, the way he didn’t hide, didn’t try to act as if things were different than they were. He didn’t keep her at a distance like so many others had, didn’t think of her as the Anointed, as anything but who she was. He’d lived his life in a tribe, as a part of a family, a group, and yet he’d never once tried to shut her out. 

Aloy cupped his cheeks. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but you won’t ever be one.” She lifted her head to steal another kiss, to try and soothe his worries, his fears.

Not much of her life made sense, but he did.

Tension eased out of him as if he’d just accepted her words. His hand drifted up her body, over her stomach, her ribcage, before cupping her breast. Her nipple pressed into his palm before he stroked it with his fingers. It tightened beneath his attention, drawing a moan from Aloy, a sound she’d never made before.

His lips tipped into a satisfied grin, far too pleased with himself. “Never thought you’d be a girl I could get to make sounds like that.”

When Aloy wanted to respond, he repeated the touch and drew that sound from her again.

Instead of fighting it, Aloy gave in. He was the only person she’d give in with, the only one she’d trust enough to just let go, to stop fighting, stop struggling against.

He moved his lips to her jawline, then her throat. His facial hair tickled her skin, made her laugh, but he only took the sound in with a chuckle and kept going. His lips moved over her collarbone and to her breast. He pressed kisses over the curve of her breast before capturing a nipple between his lips.

Aloy arched off the bed and into the unfamiliar sensation as he sucked, then stroked his tongue against her. Her knee lifted, sliding along his side, her hips rising to press against him.

He released her nipple, then moved his hand down between them. His fingers lifted goosebumps on her flesh as he worked them down the middle of her stomach, brushed them over her navel, then slid them through the hair on her mound.

She lifted her hips again, something born of instinct more than thought, seeking more of his touch.

Erend did as she requested, moving his fingers down to her slit. Despite the way he moved normally, all brute force, his fingers explored her with surprising agility. The first brush of his thumb against her clit had her jerking, her legs snapping shut against his sides.

He stroked along her entrance, not pressing in, just a gentle caress. “Have you ever done this before? I wasn’t sure, but with the jumping you're doing?”

She shook her head. “Are you going to turn me down, now?”

“Not a chance. I already told you I wasn’t going anywhere.” He drew his fingers up to her clit and stroked it. “I just needed to know to make sure I’m slow.”

She wanted to do something, to return the touches, to make him feel like she did. Still, knowing the basics of sex didn’t tell her what she should do. “What do you want me to do?”

He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Nothing. Just lie back and relax.” His fingers sped against her clit, calluses causing a friction her fingers never had, making her react in a way she’d never done before.

Aloy closed her eyes, her legs falling open again as he played her body. When he pressed a finger into her, it slid in without resistance, the sensation new but welcome. He thrust that finger into her deep but slow. One finger became two, his thumb still on her clit.

A warmth started in her lower stomach, a tingling across her skin that made it feel too tight for her frame. Her breathing sped up, her fingers digging into his shoulder like that grip could keep her together.

He didn’t stop, didn’t slow, pushed her toward that edge until she toppled over it. Her muscles tightened, her back arching up sharply against him, her breath freezing in her lungs. It was overwhelming, almost frightening in the intensity. Only Erend’s lips against hers and the sweet words he whispered kept her grounded.

Her back dropped down as she pulled in a shaky breath. His fingers brushed her clit, causing her to gasp.

“Sorry,” he said, a smile saying he wasn’t that sorry. He moved his hand to her hip, thumb rubbing in soothing circles.

“Is it always like that?”

“Saying yes will improve the chances you’ll let me again, so I think I’ll go with yes."  The humor pulled her in in a way cocky arrogance never would have.

Erend wasn’t just some person. He wasn’t just a flirt who’d wanted to bed her. He was her friend, first and foremost. He made her laugh, made her feel wanted, welcomed.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Aloy pressed her palm against his lips to silence him.

“Don’t ask me again. Yes, I still want to.”

He pressed a kiss to her palm, eyes soft like she charmed him even then, even being demanding and awkward as she always was.

He reached between them after she dropped her hand. The thick head of his cock pressed against her, stroking over her in a slow tease first. His lips met hers, coaxing her to relax with kisses that distracted her, that made her forget everything.

His hips shifted forward, sliding into her in a slick glide. It didn’t hurt, though the stretch ached for a moment, a strange fullness his fingers hadn’t come close to replicating.

He groaned against her lips before sliding closer, his breath to her ear. “Is that okay?”

She nodded, unsure how to respond, what to say. It felt so personal, so close.

Erend shifted the arm he braced his weight on, moving his palm to cup the back of her head, his fingers in her hair. He shifted back, pulling out before thrusting forward again. He kept the rhythm slow, hips rolling forward then uncurling.

Her body felt worn out, over-sensitive. She relaxed, enjoying the shift of his body, the way he dragged against her, the way he clasped her to him. His other hand went to her thigh, fingers biting into the flesh there.

His breath came out hard, warming her ear, her neck. His weight rested more fully on her, but it felt right.

Aloy let the sound of his breathing, the way their skin slid against each other, the strange sense of home and belonging consume her. After some time, his thrusts lost their pace, and he pressed in deep and stilled.

His fingers grasped around the back of her head, his hips still moving forward in tiny rocking thrusts like he didn’t want to let the moment go any more than she did.

Even as he softened inside of her, he didn’t move. “What if we ignore tomorrow? Just take off and don’t look back.”

“What would we do?”

“Anything we wanted. I’ll farm, and you can make machines dance for shards.”

“You know we can’t do that.” Aloy pressed at his chest until he rose up enough for her to see him.

“I know. I just finally have things in order, and I could lose it all tomorrow.” He rolled off her, moving to lie beside her. “I know we can’t run away,  but it’s tempting to imagine it. A little house, a warm fire, a handful of red-headed kids who climb high enough to give me heart-attacks.”

“Is that what you want?”

“More than anything, Aloy. The question is, is that what you want?”

Did she want that? A home? A tribe of her own? The family she’d never had? She knew Erend would give her that without hesitation, would never cast her out, never make her feel lonely again, and was that the future she wanted?

“More than anything.” She snuggled closer to his side.

“Well, then I guess we have an even better reason to not die tomorrow, don’t we?” Erend released that laugh she loved, the one that made the world a little less empty before he pressed a kiss to her head.

Aloy threw an arm around his waist, curling into his warmth. Hades had no chance tomorrow because nothing would take away the home she'd found with Erend.

  
  



End file.
